Factorio

Factorio turns the resource loop into an optimisation puzzle, not a grind. Players dig coal and iron, convert them to plates, then build drills and furnaces to repeat the process better. As belts, production lines and energy sources pile up, the game becomes a problem of automation and efficiency.

The questions it poses are where the backlogs are, whether you can keep up with repairs, and how to adapt to a sudden freeze. Deadlines, rewards and competing nations push players to optimise rather than just wait. Mark Brown calls it "a complex problem-solving headache of automation and optimisation", and says Satisfactory and Stardew Valley work similarly.

Factorio makes players dig by hand first, so automation feels earned. Players mine resources manually, then build machines that run themselves and move to non-depleting power. The early hand labour is what makes the later automation feel earned.

Mark Brown says "the desire to create an optimised system that works on its own is very potent." He pairs it with Stardew Valley, where hand watering gives way to sprinklers.

Factorio's self-sustaining factory premise can absorb hundreds of hours. After crash-landing, you build a self-sustaining factory to make a spaceship. Players can lose hundreds of hours optimising it.